<p>Goooooooooo bears!!!</p>
<p>if ur decision is based solely on academics, berkeley is the better choice. they are distinctly superior (although not by much) to UCLA in almost every department. I prefer berkeley simply bc ucla doesn’t have a business program. if ur an engineer student, u shoudl def go to Cal since u’ll be livining in silicon valley and have the best opportunity to work with the best upstart tech companies. </p>
<p>but aside from the academics, ucla is better in every other category. better weather, better location, better people (more attractive), less competition in classes, but still a world class education. </p>
<p>you can’t go wrong with either one. both the berkeley and ucla brands are known across the country. But berkeley’s reputation is better internationally</p>
<p>try looking at both campuses. I’d choose UCLA if you want a better overall college experience.</p>
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there is not any real way to prove that, and I am sure it varies from major to major. For example, UCLA has the largest premed population, so a premed who chooses UCLA has a larger amount of competition to deal with.</p>
<p>I received an offer from UCLA about a month ago for a PhD in chemistry, and I intend to accept. Berkeley’s ‘dirty trick’ of overadmitting in chem and then failing out 30 percent in their first year was too much. The grad students were much happier at UCLA. Sometimes prestige isn’t everything. Go Bruins!</p>
<p>I think the feel of the two campuses are very different. Berkeley might have an edge in the sciences, but UCLA is really not that far behind. In my opinion, students at UCLA are more laid-back.</p>
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<p>It is not actually much of a dirty trick. The material is just downright hard, and a lot of people aren’t up to snuff. They don’t fail students, the students just realize that they aren’t interested in the material and they just leave the College of Chemistry. Also, a lot of them simply mix up Biochemistry (in L&S in MCB) with Chemical Biology (in CoC) and realize they are in the wrong place and leave for L&S. A third group of people, exploit this whole and make it bigger (purposely apply for CoC and heading out the second they get a chance).</p>
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<p>Actually that is not so true, in some sciences it may not be much of a difference, but it some it is a huge difference. UCLA doesn’t rank anywhere as high in graduate rankings as Cal does (and yes, graduate rankings are a good (but not perfect) reference for the quality of undergraduate programs)</p>
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Yeah, but the guy is talking about a pHD program. If you could choose between UCLA and Berkeley, great; but there are many people who really can’t choose. I don’t think there’s as much of a UCLA-Berkeley rivalry when it comes to graduate programs. Berkeley comes up top but if you have any idea where you belong you wouldn’t apply to both schools…</p>
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Most sane people would apply to both Cal and UCLA, simply because they are the same application and if they get don’t get into one school they would still have a shot at the other.</p>
<p>I have a friend, who really wanted to go to UCLA, who idiotically thought the admissions between Cal and UCLA were linked (he bought into the myth that you only get one or the other) and did not apply to Cal. He was a high-score weak-EC kind of guy, so UCLA rejected him. His profile fit the bill for admission to Cal, but because he didn’t apply he is now stuck at UCSD.</p>
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<p>“Anywhere as high” is really really relative. If you accept the arbitrary rule that “Top 10” is the only place to be, then yes, Cal is it, but most UCLA departments are within reach of Cal’s. UCLA placements are quite good in most departments, and UCLA produces a lot of high quality research. Plenty of highly cited people to do your PhD with at UCLA, and I’d easily put UCLA on the same plane as Berkeley in most departments.</p>
<p>What Cal has, however, is the labs. Particularly in the physical sciences. However, most departments at both of them are comparably top 10 to 15. It’s only in the CC world, where it’s “top 10 or nothing” that we start splitting hairs to this degree.</p>
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<p>What a tragedy to be “stuck” at UCSD. [rolleyes]</p>
<p>Well who knows if your friend would have gotten into Cal and they should have done more in High School… She got stuck in UCSD AWHH thats sooo sad <em>rolls eyes</em> I know people who literally would kill to get into UCSD</p>
<p>they also did not work as hard in high school.
just because there are people below you in terms of schools or jobs, doesnt mean you should be satisfied with what you have.
thats how we make progress as a species</p>